Cloth roll control mechanism for looms



Mays, 1947. c. R. KRoNoFF ErAL 2,420,178

CLOTH ROLL CONTROL MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Sept. 24, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet l' May 6, 1947 c. R. KRoNoFF ErAL l 2,420,178

CLOTH'ROLL CONTROL MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Sept. 24, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May v6, 1947.

c. R.' KRoNoFF -rrr/1u.

CLOTH ROLL CONTROL MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed sept. 24, 1945 s sheets-sheet s Patented -ay 6, 1394-7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLUTH RGLL CNTROL MECHANISB FOR,

LOMS

Application September 24, 1945, Serial No. 618,137

l Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in cloth roll mechanism for looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide safe and efficient means for handling large rolls of cloth.

Certain fabrics such as terry towels are quite thick and a single wrap around the cloth roll resuits in an appreciable increase in its diameter. Cloth rolls for looms weaving such fabrics are ordinarily mounted so that they can attain to a large diameter, thereby permitting the winding of a considerable length of fabric on the roll before taking olf a cut. In the past either straight or segmental racks have been used to mesh with pir-lions on a shaft connected to the inner ends of large spiral springs. The other end of each spring is connected to a gear under control of a hand wheel. The hand Wheel has a worm and worm gear connection with the main gear which serves to hold the gear so that as the roll descends due to its increasing diameter the shaft will turn and place the spring under increasing tension. When removing a cut from the roll of these prior looms it is customary to push the roll downwardly manually a short distance and then put some form of temporary stop between the rack and its pinion to hold the roll down in such position as will permit lifting of its gudgeons out of their pockets on the racks. After the cloth has been removed it is necessary to restore the roll to its high position and this is done by removing the temporary stop. In this last operation the workman is occasionally injured due to the fact that the spring is under considerable tension and acts to lift the roll as soon as the stop is removed.

It is an important object of our present invention to provide improved means for holding the roll in low position to permit the removal of a cut without the use of the aforesaid stop, thereby eliminating risk of injury to the workman.

The Worm and worm gear connected to the hand wheel and main gear has made it possible in the past to apply too high an initial tension to the spring when the roll is in high position, with the result that as the cloth roll increases in diameter the spring closes onitself and then breaks. It is a further object of our invention to provide stop means which will limit the number of rotations the hand wheel can have. This limiting mechanism is such so that when the hand wheel is in one position the spring will always exert suiiicient pressure to hold the roll in high position, but when the hand wheel is turned to its other position to lower the roll preparatory to removal the spring is placed under only a `small increase in tension without reaching its limit.

The limiting mechanism enables us to eliminate wood shear pins heretofore used to prevent damage to the spring when the hand wheel was turned too much.

It is another object of our invention to employ a manually or foot operated clutch between the main gear and the shaft which carries the pinion for the rack, and provide means such as a spring normally tending to hold the clutch in engaging position. When the clutch parts are separated a friction disk secured to the shaft is forced against a stationary friction surface for the purpose of preventing the spring from causing too rapid a rise of the empty cloth roll.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, our invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of our invention is set forth,

Fig. l is a front elevation of the lower part 0f the loom having our invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the left hand side of the forward part of the loom looking in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section on line 3 3, Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4 4, Fig, 3,

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the stop or limiting mechanism which determines the number of rotations the hand wheel can have,

Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views showing the stop mechanism in two different positions,

Fig, 8 is a diagrammatic View indicating two different positions of the cloth roll supporting rack and the left side of the loom, and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail plan View of the clutch teeth looking in the direction of arrow 9, Fig. l.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, we have shown a loom frame lll having a breast beam H, a lay l2, a take-up roll I3, and cloth guiding rolls la, i5 and l. The cloth roll Il is mounted in pockets i8 on two segment racks i9 and 2i! having teeth 2i and pivoted at opposite sides of the loom as at 22.

The fabric F extends forwardly and over the breast beam and then around the rolls I4, i3, l5, l in the order named, to the cloth roll Il. The latter frictionally engages that part of the cloth on the under side of the take-up roll and is thus caused to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 to wind up the fabric. As weaving continues the diameter of the cloth on 3 the roll increases and the segments I9 and 20 turn in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2.

Rack |9 meshes with a driven pinion 25 secured to a shaft 26 rotatable in a horiozntal bearing 2l secured to the loom frame. The shaft has secured thereto the inner end of a helical spring 28 the outer end of which is secured as by a pin 29 to the main gear 30 which rotates freely on the shaft 26.

A small upper pinion 35 meshing with gear 39 is secured to a shaft 36 rotatable in a xed bearing 3l secured to the loom frame, and a worm gear 38 secured to shaft 36 meshes with a worm 39 secured to a shaft 4|] turning in a fixed bearing 4|. A hand wheel 42 is secured to the front end of shaft 49 and has a ratchet 43 thereon to cooperate with a hold pawl 44 pivoted to bearing 4|. The hold pawl 44 prevents clockwise rotation of the hand wheel 42 as Viewed in Fig. 1, but can be lifted to permit clockwise rotation of the hand wheel.

A lower pinion 45 meshing with the main gear 36 is secured to the left end of a shaft 46 rotatable on the loom and extending across the latter and having secured to the right end thereof as viewed in Fig. 1 a second lower pinion 4l meshing with a large gear 48 at the right hand side of the loom and similar to gear 30. A second spring 49 at the right end of the loom has its ends connected respectively to the gear 48 and a second shaft 59 in a manner not shown but similar to corresponding structure at the left hand side of the loom. A pinion 5| similar to pinion 25 is secured to shaft 59 and meshes with the right segmental rack 26. rlhe purpose of the shaft 46 and the lower pinions connected to it is to cause the segments I9 and 2D to turn in unison by reason of the trains of mechanism including the lower pinions 45 and 47 and the pinions 25 and 5|.

The matter thus far described is similar to the cloth control mechanism shown in prior Patent No. 2,057,409, issued to Bergstrom and Palmer, and except as appears hereinafter operates as does the mechanism shown in that patent.

In carrying our present invention into effect we provide a friction disk E slidable on but keyed as at 6| to the shaft 26. This disk has a hub 62 grooved to receive the pins 63 of a clutch operating lever 64 pivoted as at 65 on the outer bearing stand 6G for shaft 26. An inwardly extending arm 61 forming part of the clutch lever has a pin and slot connection 68 with a manual or foot operated lever 69 pivoted on a fixed stud 10.

The bearing stand 66 has secured thereto a friction plate for cooperation with the friction disk 66. A compression spring 'l2 between the disk 60 and the plate tends to move the friction disk 69 to the right as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3 away from the friction plate 1 The spring normally maintains the friction disk 66 and the manual or foot operated lever 69 in the position shown in Fig. 1 so that the disk 69 and shaft 26 can turn with the lower pinion 25 as the cloth roll descends.

The hub l of the main gear 36 is provided with clutch teeth 'I6 which engage similar clutch teeth 'il on the hub 62 of the friction disk 60. The spring 12 normally holds the clutch parts in driving or engaging relationship as shown in Fig. 3. When the clutch parts are to be disengaged the lever 69 is depressed, thereby moving the teeth 'i1 away from the teeth 16 and moving the friction disk 60 toward the friction plate 1|.

In order to limit the number of rotations which the hand wheel can have the shaft 40 has secured thereto a collar having a stop lug 8| xed thereto, see Fig. 5. A stop ring 82 is fast with respect to the stand 4| and has a stop lug 83 which is in xed position at all times. Between the collar 66 and the ring or collar 82 are located several rings, five being shown at S5, 8S, 81, 38 and 89, respectively. Each disk is provided with -a stop lug 90 which overhangs the adjacent ring to the right thereof and is in position to engage the lug of said adjacent ring.

When hand wheel 42 is turned in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 its lug 8| will make almost a complete rotation from the position shown in Fig. 5 and will then engage the lug 90 of ring 89 and turn the latter until it engages the lug of ring 88. These rings then turn together until the lug of ring 88 engages the lug 99 of ring 67, and this operation is repeated until the lug of ring engages the fixed stop lug 83. The ve rings shown in Fig. 5 permit the hand wheel to turn somewhat more than ve complete rotations either to the right or left as viewed in Fig. 1, but at the end of this number of rotations the hand wheel 42 is locked against further rotation. Thus it is that the hand wheel is free to turn a given number of rotations either to the right or to the left, but cannot have more than this given nurnber of rotations. Figs. 6 and '7 show two intermediate positions which the lugs 90 of the rings can assume during rotation of the hand Wheel.

In operation, it may be assumed that the cloth roll is empty and in the high position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8 corresponding to the position shown in Fig. 2. Under these conditions the spring 28 and 49 will be under their minimum tension which will, however, be sufhcient to hold the roll against the cloth on the take-up roll |3 tightly enough to establish driving connection between the two rolls. The clutch teeth 'I6 and 11 will be in engagement with each other and the friction disk 60 will be spaced from the friction plate 'H and the foot lever 69 will be up. As weaving continues under these conditions the diameter` of the cloth on roll increases and there will be a corresponding angular motion of the segments I8 and 20 as the cloth roll descends. During this angular motion of the segment I9 the lower pinion 2-5 will turn in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 and shaft 26, friction disk 66 and clutch teeth will turn in the same direction to effect a steady increase in the tension of spring 23. During this downward movement of the cloth roll the hand wheel will be stationary and the worm gear 38 and worm 39 will serve as a lock to hold the main gear 30 and and the outer end of spring 28 stationary. As clutch teeth 11 turn they slip along the teeth 16 which are stationary due to the worm and its wheel or gear. and move slightly to the left as viewed in Fig. 3 against the action of spring l2, causing the friction disk B0 to approach but not quite touch the friction plate 1|. Eventually the teeth reach the high or left-most parts of teeth i6, Fig. 3, and are then moved to the rightV back into close relationship with the teeth '|6 by spring l2 as shown in Fig. 9. During loom operation, therefore, the clutch teeth slip with respect to each other but tend by reason of spring '|2 always to move into holding relationship to prevent clockwise rotation of shaft 26 as viewed in Fig. 2.

When the diameter of the cloth or roll |1 is large enough to require the removal of a cut of cloth, the loom will be stopped and the hand wheel will be turned to cause the train of gearing between it and the clutch teeth 'H to move the latter in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2, thereby effecting a still further lowering of the cloth roll so that the latter may be lifted out of the segment pockets i8. After the cloth has been removed from the roll l? it is placed back in the segment pockets but will still be in low position. ln order to lift roll il to. driving relationship With the talee-up roll, the foot pedal Se will be depressed the eifect of which is to disengage the clutch parts and force the friction disk ed against the friction plate 'i i. While the cloth roll is still in low position, the foot pedal 58 can be lifted slightly to permit the disk Se to slip along the plate il under action of the springs and te. 1t is in this way that the cloth roll is slowly .safely raised to its high position preparatory to the resumption of Weaving.

The springs 28 and lie will still be under more tension than is desirable before weaving is resurned due to the previous turning of the hand Wheel. The latter is therefore turned in the reverse direction to relieve the extra tension applied 'when the cloth roll was being moved away from the take-up roll by the hand Wheel.

The amount of turning which the hand Wheel can have because of the stop mechanism shown in Fig. 5 is such as to prevent the Workman from applying too much tension to the spring when the cloth roll is in high position. Without such a stop mechanism it would be possible for the Weaver to Wind the springs too tightly with the result that they would close on themselves and tlien break before the cloth roll could reach the low position shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 2. ".ihe foregoing description assumes that the hand Wheel will be turned in one direction for the limit of its rotations permitted by the stop mechanism when the cloth roll is being removed from the segmental racks le and 2t, and then be turned for its full motion in the reverse direction after the cloth roll has been returned to its high position. It is to ce understood, however, that the full angular motion may not always be needed.

From the foregoing it will be seen that We have provided simple means by which the worm and Worm gear associated with the hand Wheel together with the clutch members having the teeth i5 and respectively, prevent accidental movement of the racks le' and 2t by the springs 2S and te. The clutch parts permit relative slipping of their teeth as the cloth roll descends, but the spring i2 always acts to reestablish holding relationship between the clutch members and a slight amount of retrograde movement of the Segment gears only is possible because of the clutch teeth. When the empty roll has been returned to the lowered segments the foot pedal e?) can then safely be pressed and the springs will return the cloth roll to its high position. Furthermore, because of the sto-p mechanism shown in Fig. 5 the amount of wind-up of the spring by the hand wheel is limited, and this wind-up together with that associated with the filling of the cloth roll with cloth can always be Within the range of operation of the torsion springs. Also, it will be seen that the hand wheel provides means for turning the segments i5 and 2li in a further downward direction preparatory to removal of the cloth roll in which position the clutch teeth hold the roll, hence it is never necessary for the weaver to touch the segments or get his fingers near the point of mesh bet-Ween the segments and the lower pinions meshing With them. The stop mechanism shown in Fig. 5 is a convenient means d for limiting the number of rotations of the hand wheel, but We do not wish to be limited to this particular form of stop mechanism.

Having thus described our invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and We do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but What We claim is:

l. In a loom having a cloth roll supported on gear segment means movable to locate the cloth roll in different positions, a shaft geared to the segment means, a gear rotatable on the shaft, a spring having one end operatively connected to the shaft and the other end operatively connected to the gear so that relative movement of the gear and Shaft will vary thetension of the spring, a worm gear operatively connected to said gear, a Worm for the worm gear, a Worm Shaft to Which said Worm is secured mounted for rotation in such position that when said Worm and worm shaft are turned in a given direction said Worm wheel is effective to move the gear relatively to the shaft in a direction to tension said spring, and means including a part secured to and moving with the worm shaft and a stationary part operative after a given number of rotations of said shaft in said given direction to cause engagement of said parts to prevent further rotation in said given direction of the worm to prevent excessive tensioning of the spring.

2. In a loom having a cloth roll supported on gear segment means movable to locate the cloth roll in different positions, a shaft geared to the segment means, a spring having one end operatively connectecl to the shaft, a control gear for the spring operatively connected to the other end of said spring and rotatable on said shaft so that relative movement of the control gear and shaft will vary the tension of the spring, a Worm gear operatively connected to said control gear to cause turning of the latter when the Worm gear turns, a Worm for said Worm gear, a Worm shaft to which the worm is secured, a mounting in which the worm shaft turns, said Worin and Worm shaft when turning in a given direction causing said worin gear to turn said control gear relatively to the iirst named shaft in a direction to increase the tension of the spring, and stop means including a part fixed with respect to said mounting, a plurality of stop parts on and rotatable relatively to said worm shaft, and a third part secured to said Worm shaft operative after a given number of rotations of said Worm and worm shaft in said given direction to prevent further rotation of the Worm in said given direction to prevent excessive tensioning of said spring.

3. In a loom having a shaft connected to a cloth roll by connections operative to cause the shaft to turn in one direction when the cloth roll moves away from the loom take-up roll and operative to cause the cloth roll to move toward the take-up roll when the shaft turns in the opposite direction, a gear on the shaft, a spring operatively connecting the shaft and gear capable of assuming varying degrees of tension when the shaft turns relatively to the gear, worm and worm gear mechanism operatively connected to the gear and effective when the Worm turns in a given direction to turn the gear relatively to the shaft in a direction to tension the spring, and means effective after a given number of turns of the Worm in said given direction to prevent further rotation of the Worm in said given direction to prevent excessive tensioning of the spring,

4. In a loom having a cloth roll mounted on a movable support and having a shaft operatively connected to the support in such manner that the shaft is turned in one direction when the support moves the cloth roll away from the loom take-up roll and the support is caused to move the cloth roll toward the take-up roll when the shaft turns in the opposite direction, a gear rotatable on the shaft, a spring having one end thereof operatively connected to the shaft and having the other end thereof operatively connected to the gear so that relative movement of the gear and shaft will vary the tension of the spring, means normally holding the gear stationary, a clutch member fixed with respect to said gear, a second clutch member secured to the shaft, said clutch members having teeth so formed as to permit substantial movement of the shaft relatively to the gear in that direction only which corresponds to movement of the cloth roll away from the take-up roll when said gear is held stationary and the clutch members are in engagement with each other, and means normally operative to hold said clutch members in engagement with each other.

5. In a loom having a cloth roll supported on gear segment means movable to locate the cloth roll at diiferent distances from the loom take-up roll, a shaft geared to the segment means, a gear rotatable on the shaft, a spring having one end thereof operatively connected to the shaft and having the other end thereof operatively connected to the gear so that relative movement of the gear and shaft will vary the tension of the spring, means normally holding the gear stationary, a clutch member rigid with the gear and having clutch teeth, a second clutch member rotating with the shaft and having teeth to engage the rst named teeth, and means normally tend ing to cause said clutch members to engage each other, the teeth being so formed that the shaft can turn relatively to the gear in a direction corresponding to movement of the cloth roll away from the take-up roll but so constructed as to limit movement of the shaft relatively to the gear in a direction corresponding to movement of the cloth roll toward the take-up roll.

6. In a loom having a cloth roll supported on gear segment means movable to locate the cloth roll at different distances from the loom take-up roll, a shaft geared to the segment means, a gear rotatable on the shaft, a spring having one end thereof operatively connected to the shaft and having the other end thereof operatively connected to the gear so that relative movement of the gear and shaft will vary the tension of the spring, means normally holding the gear stationary, a clutch member on the gear having clutch teeth, a second clutch member having clutch teeth and rotatable with and slidable along the shaft, and means normally tending to hold said clutch members in engagement with each other, said teeth being so formed as to permit relative movement of said clutch members with respect to each other in one direction only corresponding to movement of the shaft when the cloth roll moves away from the take-up roll but preventing substantial movement of the shaft relatively to the gear in the opposite direction corresponding to movement of the cloth roll toward the take-up roll.

'7. In a loom having a cloth roll supported on gear segment means movable to locate the cloth roll at different distances from the loom takeup roll, a shaft geared to the segment means, a

gear rotatable on the shaft, a spring having one end thereof operatively connected to the shaft vand having the other end thereof operatively connected to the gear so that relative movement of the gear and shaft will vary the tension of the spring, means normally holding the gear stationary, a clutch member rigid with the gear and having clutch teeth, a second clutch member ro-y tatable with and slidable along the shaft and having clutch teeth to engage the rst named clutch teeth, resilient means tending normally to hold said clutch members in engagement with each other, said teeth being so formed as to permit relative substantial angular movement of the shaft with respect to the gear in but one direction only corresponding to the direction in which the shaft turns when the cloth roll moves away from the take-up roll, and means to Separate said clutch members against the action of said resilient means to enable the spring to turn said shaft in a direction corresponding to movement of the cloth roll toward the take-up roll.

8. In a loom having a cloth roll mounted on a movable support and having a shaft operatively connected to the support in such manner that the shaft is turned in one direction when the support moves the cloth roll away from the loom take-up roll and the support is caused to move the cloth roll toward the take-up roll when the shaft turns in the opposite direction, a gear rotatable on the shaft, a spring having one end thereof operatively connected to the shaft and having the other end thereof operatively connected to the gear so that relative movement of the gear and shaft will vary the tension of the spring, clutch members one rigid with the gear and the other rotating with but slidable along the shaft, resilient means normally holding said clutch members in engagement with each other, said clutch members having clutch teeth so formed as to permit substantial relative movement of the shaft with respect to the gear in one direction only corresponding to movement of the cloth roll away from the take-up roll when said clutch members are in engagement with each other, a friction disk movable longitudinally of the shaft with said other clutch member and rotating with the latter and the shaft, and a stationary friction plate for said disk, said disk and friction plate being so related with respect to the clutch members that when the latter are disengaged said disk will engage said plate to resist movement of the shaft in a direction corresponding to movement of the cloth roll toward the take-up roll by a force derived from the spring.

9. In a loom having a shaft connected to a cloth roll by mechanism which causes the shaft to turn in one direction when the cloth roll moves away from the loom take-up roll and causes the cloth roll to move toward the take-up roll when the shaft turns in the oppostie direction, a spring having one end thereof operatively connected to the sha-ft and tending to turn the latter in said other direction, clutch members one of which is normally stationary and the other of which rotates with and is slidable along the shaft, resilient means tending to hold said clutch members in engagement with each other, said clutch memf bers being so constructed as to permit substantial turning of the shaft in said one direction only means and friction member being so related with respect to said clutch members thatrwhen the latter :are disengaged said friction means will engage said friction member to resist movement of the shaft by the spring in said other direction corresponding to movement of the cloth roll toward the take-up roll.

10. In a. loom having a shaft connected to a cloth roll by mechanism which causes the shaft to turn in one direction when the cloth roll moves away from the loom take-up roll and causes the cloth roll to move toward the take-up roll when the shaft turns in the opposite direction, spring means operatively connected to the shaft normally tending to turn the latter in said other direction corresponding to movement of the cloth roll toward the take-up roll and resisting movement of the shaft in said one direction corresponding to movementl of the cloth roll away from the take-up roll, clutch means including two normally engaging members one of which turns with and is slidable along the Shaft and the other of which is normally stationary, said clutch members when engaged preventing move- 10 ment of the shaft in said other direction by the spring, a friction disk rigid with said one clutch member, a stationary friction plate for engagement with the friction disk, and means controlled by the operator to simultaneously disengage said clutch members and causes engagement of the friction disk with the friction plate, said means permitting control of the engagement of the friction disk with the plate to regulate movement of said cloth roll by the spring in a direction toward the take-up roll.

yCLARENCE R. KRONOFF. ARCHIBALD J. HERARD, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 610,636 Northrop Sept, 13, 1898 2,057,409 Bergstrom Oct. 13, 1936 1,748,000 Stone Feb. 18,1930 

